The Number of Female Filmmakers Continues to Decline in Hollywood.

Angelina

Angelina

Of the 250 most notable releases of 2016, only 7% were produced by women

A new report from the Center for Women’s Studies in Film and Television at San Diego State University indicates that when it comes to directing film, Hollywood is still a men’s club. Of the 250 most notable releases of 2016, only 7% had a woman behind the camera. That’s two percentage points lower than the nine percent of films that were directed by women in 2015. And that, despite the fact that this year the diversity of gender in the film industry has been a constant reason for conversation throughout 2016. “I am Stunned. It seems incredible to me that the figure has dropped after all the attention and conversation generated in the last two years in this industry. It is clear that the remedies put in place do not work, “said the executive director of the center as well as author of the study, Martha Lauzen.

They are two points less or 22% down, depending on how you look at the study titled Ceiling Celluloid. A list with names and surnames that includes, among others, Jodie Foster with Money Monster, Mexican Patricia Riggen with The Miracles of Heaven and Thea Sharrock and his Before You. There is also Ava Duvernay with the documentary The 13th, a genre with a greater presence of women. The same goes for the dramas while the filmmakers shine by their absence in action or horror films. And if the study is made on the 100 highest grossing films of 2016, only four were directed by women.

Some work behind the cameras counted on a greater number of women than in 2015. This is the case of composers or those who worked as sound montage supervisors. In the first case the increase was of 3% and in the second of an eight. The same thing happens with the writers, who gave content to 13% of the films of 2016, two percent more than in 2015. But the number of producers decreased by 2%, that of automakers by 5% and by one 1% that of cinematographers. The latter is a field so masculine that only 5% of the 250 most important Hollywood films released in 2016 had a woman as director of photography. In summary Celluloid ceiling shows that women only occupied 17% of the jobs behind the cameras, two points less than in 2015.

Despite the alarming results, the specialized press shows reasons for hope. Throughout 2017 is expected the release of outstanding titles such as Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins; Pitch Perfect 3, this time realized by Trish Sie, or the next project of Sofia Coppola, The Beguiled. And both Lucasfilm and Marvel talk about the possible hiring of women as filmmakers for some of their upcoming titles. “I know that Kathleen Kennedy (president of Lucasfilm) is very enthusiastic about hiring a woman to direct one of the episodes and it would be fantastic,” Rogue One star Felicity Jones told El Pais. Chosen is Andrea Arnold (American Honey), British director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One) has mentioned in previous occasions to continue his work in the saga of Star Wars. The new report arrives in time to be part of the Commission’s Equal Employment Opportunity inquiry. The state group is analyzing possible gender discrimination in Hollywood.